The report “Measuring Up 2000” makes North Carolina look good in some respects and bad in others. But before rushing to praise state policymakers where the grades are high or criticize them where the grades are low, we need to examine several questionable assumptions that undermine the validity of those grades.
Increasing the amount of tax-free investment that parents contribute to education saving accounts (ESAs) would benefit middle and low- income families, according to Joe Barnett, a policy analyst with the National Center for Policy Analysis.
For most young adults, reaching the age of 21 is the final step into adulthood. At that age, they are allowed to purchase alcohol, having already been granted the privileges of working, driving, voting, smoking and enlisting in the military. Legislation before the U.S. Senate would add another “privilege” to reaching the age of 21: being able to receive a credit card.
“The pathway to success is to keep the doors of our colleges and universities open to all, and to open them even wider,” North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt said in a recent editorial to The Chronicle of Higher Education, a national magazine that examines news and issues concerning colleges and universities nationwide. Hunt’s editorial appeared in the “Opinion & Arts” section of the July 16, 1999 edition of The Chronicle.
This year’s House budget proposal of $13 billion includes tremendous gains for higher education, including millions more for community colleges. The full House is expected to vote on the budget this week.
A case before the Supreme Court could change the way public universities in North Carolina and across the nation allocate student-activities fees. The Justices agreed to hear a suit five law students at the University of Wisconsin brought against their school over how the university allocated a portion of the mandatory activity fees it collects. Across the country, there has been several similar cases recently concerning potential First-Amendment violations by universities in their collection and expenditure of mandatory fees.
